Will we ever forgive Chris Brown?

STATEN ISLAND, NY--Billboard reported Monday afternoon that Chris Brown plead guilty to one count of felony assault on Rihanna. The two pop stars got into an altercation just before this year's Grammy Awards that ended in physical violence.

There's a lot to consider here: the young age of the people involved, the fact that people make huge mistakes, the fact that it often takes two to have a bad fight. But at the end of the day, I'm of the opinion that abusing a woman is a crime only forgivable after an entire life lived as a changed man--if at all. Ike Turner, James Brown, these men did things artistically that I doubt Chris Brown will ever do (sorry, but "Run It!" doesn't hold a candle to "Try Me," or Turner's legacy from behind the scenes). And yet both the truth as well as the exaggeration of those two recently-deceased musicians' history of domestic abuse haunts them even as they lie in their graves. Will we ever forgive Chris Brown? Should we?

For better or worse, this incident will likely accompany the young R&B singer at least as long as his fame--and it may have even severely shortened his time in the limelight. Or, maybe not--if anything is true, fame is fickle. The whole thing has, in a strange way, probably done some good for Rihanna's career.

Brown will apparently get five years probation and lots of community service in his home state of Virginia, as well as be required to attend classes on domestic abuse. The former couple also must mutually obey a "stay-away" order. Is that enough? Do you think Brown truly regrets what he did? How does somebody like Brown right a wrong like this, and is it even possible?